Do they really think Griezmann will solve their issues? To me, the entire issue about Real Madrid and Barca isn't necessarily good players but as a whole, the teams play way too slow. You may get away with that through talent against the middling champions league sides, but against Liverpool, City... probably Ajax too... they aren't fast enough and don't pose enough of a threat.

Do they really think Griezmann will solve their issues? To me, the entire issue about Real Madrid and Barca isn't necessarily good players but as a whole, the teams play way too slow. You may get away with that through talent against the middling champions league sides, but against Liverpool, City... probably Ajax too... they aren't fast enough and don't pose enough of a threat.

They have won it for the last 5 seasons so I'm guessing you are basing your in depth analysis on one season.

Mkhitaryan has been told by Azerbaijan that his safety cannot be guaranteed if he travels to Baku to play for Arsenal in the Europa League Final so Arsenal have had to drop him from their squad.

An utter shambles from UEFA holding the final in Baku. It would be good for the game if the two London clubs just told UEFA where to go and arranged the game themselves at Wembley.

Is that true though? What I’ve read they have and arsenal have said as much as well. Seems more he isn’t prepared to take the risk (which I have no issue with btw)

No its not true.

What makes you say it isn't true?

The reports I have seen. And the comments from the Government and the European fottball authority. Whether you believe what they say is another matter. For the record I think playing the final there is logistically ridiculous

Schmeichel and Stam both spent time in the army, Schmeichel not turning professional until he was 24, while Stam didn’t play in the Eredivisie until he was 23. Irwin was given a free transfer by Leeds; Keane learnt that he was too small, writing to, and unwanted by, every top division English club, only signing for semi-professional Cobh Ramblers at the age of 18, before suffering a career-threatening injury as he reached his peak. Cole was released by Arsenal, rejected by Fulham, then ridiculed by the media and the England manager; Sheringham didn’t play in the top division until he was 26 and Europe until he was 31. Before signing for United, Solskjaer was turned down by Hamburg, Cagliari, Manchester City and Everton, while Yorke, born in a non-footballing country, sold land crabs to tourists to pay for boots, saw the game as a “way out” of his overcrowded home and slept with a football in his bed until he was 25. They played like they could not believe their good fortune.

Even among the homegrown players, there was a mental toughness and an appreciation. The Neville brothers, dubbed the Nervous Brothers by Scholes, doubted themselves and devoted their lives accordingly, and though Giggs and Beckham were always going to make it, both suffered formative and exceptional adversity; not just the most fortunate natural talents of their generation, but also the most determined.

Incredible read really. They were a team full of men instead of the man-child's that infest that club now.

Mkhitaryan has been told by Azerbaijan that his safety cannot be guaranteed if he travels to Baku to play for Arsenal in the Europa League Final so Arsenal have had to drop him from their squad.

An utter shambles from UEFA holding the final in Baku. It would be good for the game if the two London clubs just told UEFA where to go and arranged the game themselves at Wembley.

Is that true though? What I’ve read they have and arsenal have said as much as well. Seems more he isn’t prepared to take the risk (which I have no issue with btw)

No its not true.

What makes you say it isn't true?

The reports I have seen. And the comments from the Government and the European fottball authority. Whether you believe what they say is another matter. For the record I think playing the final there is logistically ridiculous

According to a 2012 opinion poll, 91 per cent of Azerbaijanis perceive Armenia as their “biggest enemy”. Those of Armenian descent – even if they are not Armenian citizens – are routinely denied entry to the country. “Armenia is not even a colony, it is not even worthy of being a servant,” an Azerbaijani called Ilham Aliyev tweeted in early 2015, which would have been alarming enough even if you didn’t know he was the country’s president.

Quote:

Despite its blanket refusal to let Armenian citizens across its border, the Azerbaijan government had agreed to make an exception for Mkhitaryan as long as the midfielder agreed to play ball and nothing else.

Doesn't sound like he will be particularly safe to me if he said the wrong thing.

edit: Apparently this year is the first time that all 5 big leagues have been retained. Competition

Germany and Italy have been tied up for years by Bayern and Juve (7 and 8 consecutive titles respectively), PSG have been dominant in France (6 titles in 7 seasons) and Spain has generally been a Barcelona procession (7 titles in 10 seasons). All it took was the only really competitive of the big five leagues to have a club manage to retain the title (the first time it's happened in the EPL for more than a decade).

Man Utd, Blackburn and Chelsea were all financially dominant in the era of their respective successes, City are no different.

Man Utd's financial dominance came on the back of their success, not vice versa.

And a bit of luck. They were lucky they became successful right at the start of the Premiership era where bigger sums due to Sky winning the rights helped the right clubs start to pull ahead. But either way, whatever happened in the past and who, when, what and how, financial power is so considerably the dominating influence in football now there is a huge element of soulless element to the game.

Hence we see the weird phenomenon of city fans doing the triple, but not being entirely happy because other fans don't care that much about it. The finances are both creating a twin dilemma of more demand for success, but more emotional distance between clubs and their fan bases so fans aren't satisfied or happy.

Last edited by eldanielfire on Wed May 29, 2019 5:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.

edit: Apparently this year is the first time that all 5 big leagues have been retained. Competition

Germany and Italy have been tied up for years by Bayern and Juve (7 and 8 consecutive titles respectively), PSG have been dominant in France (6 titles in 7 seasons) and Spain has generally been a Barcelona procession (7 titles in 10 seasons). All it took was the only really competitive of the big five leagues to have a club manage to retain the title (the first time it's happened in the EPL for more than a decade).

Man Utd, Blackburn and Chelsea were all financially dominant in the era of their respective successes, City are no different.

Man Utd's financial dominance came on the back of their success, not vice versa.

And a bit of luck. They were lucky they became successful right at the start of the Premiership era where bigger sums due to Sky women helped the right clubs start to pull ahead. But either way, whatever happened in the past and who, when, what and how, financial power is so considerably the dominating influence in football now there is a huge element of soulless element to the game.

Hence we see the weird phenomenon of city fans doing the triple, but not being entirely happy because other fans don't care that much about it. The finances are both creating a twin dilemma of more demand for success, but more emotional distance between clubs and their fan bases so fans aren't satisfied or happy.

Man Utd, Blackburn and Chelsea were all financially dominant in the era of their respective successes, City are no different.

Man Utd's financial dominance came on the back of their success, not vice versa.

And a bit of luck. They were lucky they became successful right at the start of the Premiership era where bigger sums due to Sky women helped the right clubs start to pull ahead. But either way, whatever happened in the past and who, when, what and how, financial power is so considerably the dominating influence in football now there is a huge element of soulless element to the game.

Hence we see the weird phenomenon of city fans doing the triple, but not being entirely happy because other fans don't care that much about it. The finances are both creating a twin dilemma of more demand for success, but more emotional distance between clubs and their fan bases so fans aren't satisfied or happy.